Tuesday, July 16, 2013

avocado pesto pasta with apple chicken sausage

Okay, let's get this blogging ball rolling again, shall we?

This recipe came from a combination of three or four - always gotta make it my own. :) Steven and I have been on an avocado binge for the past couple of weeks. Guacamole, avocado salsa, diced up with lime juice and salt {my favorite!}... we'll try it any way possible if it means eating avocado. I've been wanting to try making pesto for a while, and when I saw a recipe for avocado pesto I knew it had to happen.

We needed a vehicle for the pesto... enter the pasta and chicken sausage. I went with the orecchiette pasta because the shape mimics the sliced sausage. And the little 'bowls' fill up with the pesto. Yum. My sister introduced us to chicken sausage a few months ago. We buy the Aidells brand and have tried chicken & apple and roasted garlic & gruyere cheese, but after looking online it seems there are a lot of flavors we are missing out on! It makes for a quick meal {it's smoked, just have to warm through} and is way less intense than cooking chicken breasts.

Cook the pasta according to the
package directions.
Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return them to the pot.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and heat through, turning occasionally, until browned.

Mix the pesto with the pasta, adding in some cooking water if it seems too dry, add more parmesan cheese if it's too wet. Then, add in the sausage.

It was really tasty, I'm quite happy to have the leftovers. The avocado pesto is nice and creamy, the herbs and lemon juice are very fresh tasting. I think this could actually be a good room-temp pasta salad dish too.